I’m on a mission to write a piece for my blog every day this year. I saw that my favourite marketers who drop books, basically just blog a lot. Then turn those blog articles into books. Basically you can think of what I’m writing today as potential chapter templates in an upcoming book.
With daily publishing as a goal, you end up just writing the first thing that you become passionate about that day. Once the passion is flowing, it takes me 30-40 minutes to write and edit 1000 words. Sometimes I have to do some research, like when I speak on city bike paths or my upcoming blogs on lead pipes and city sewage and that adds another hour or two.
I don’t need to do extensive research. I’m writing a blog and while people call what I do journalism sometimes, I’m an entertainer, not a journalist. What I do not do is waste time with my creative pursuits.
What exactly is wasted time?
I don’t think I can focus on doing a bunch of research today. So instead I’m going to wax poetic about two comments I got on Facebook yesterday. One implied my life must be blessed to have the time to look up how bike path snow removal works. The other goofed on how I was wasting time and all talk.
To the first person, I wrote the blog and worked over 10 hours yesterday between Uber Driving and my daytime gig. I did my research watching some YouTube shit while doing my work, yeah that IS blessed I get to do that. Then it took me less than an hour to whip up that piece of writing, 0% AI by the way. Just me and my verbosity.
To the second person, I am a professional writer, who raps, podcasts and does coaching/training sessions. There is a LOT of talking. But I’m also an event planner who lost a fair bit of money building in NDG, I’m part of a board of directors for an NDG not-for-profit and I’m going to be running in the next city election (welcome to my campaign). Ya boy is about that action.
But really I have no idea what wasted time is. As you can see my blog is clearly a for profit, power play in my life to gain clout. It’s no different than when someone does anything extra to kiss their boss's ass. Only I want the attention of my community. I’m in a position where I can capitalize on that attention and make money.
Beyond that, I feel weird if I don’t write a lot. It’s part of who I am. I’m sure the people who feel I wasted time also watch TV. I didn’t watch a lot of TV yesterday, I wrote a blog. If you are commenting on my Facebook post, chances are you like social media. How are you to judge how I use my time? But to say it’s wasted time implies you know my goals and my ROIs. I’m sorry your life is so bland that art creation has no place in it. If it does, tsk tsk.
Communication is a powerful tool
Like everything else in life, one must practise their skills to stay sharp. One of my side hustles is to write things for your online content. I even got paid 150$ to write one of the blogs on the site. If you have an event and want me to pretend I didn’t take money to write some coverage, holla.
Now how am I supposed to attract new clients if I am not showcasing my ability? The time I spend answering people on Facebook comments (boosts my content in the algorithm) and engaging with opposing viewpoints, sharpens my sword.
The last time I tried to sell tickets in the hood’s Facebook Group, I was heavily ignored. Fair enough, the universe said get your pedigree up. So now I will write more on community issues and we started The Trainman Report. Love me or hate me, a lot more people in the group know who I am.
The time will come where I will be dropping new merch, music, Patreon stuff and will need support. By learning how to communicate with my community, I am sure to see better success in the future. This may seem so callous, but the core of this blog is how confused I am by the notion I am wasting time. People do all kinds of things to make their bag, I’m just trying to show the world I do know how to market myself.
I find it weird that people would watch my passionate pursuit of a niche topic, a time waste. The community had a valid question. Why is our city money being spent in this particular way? We, the community, actually need to take the time to research and answer those questions. Anyone who feels that is wasted time sounds like they are the problem with our current electoral system, more than any politician.
Time management is key to life
I don’t waste time. I budget my time so strictly that people around me judge me heavily for it. I haven’t been completely on top of my planning lately, but I can more or less see how my week will play out ahead of time. I know what my goals are, and I set out to accomplish them.
We have 168 hours in a week. I don’t know if you keep weekly calendars, but I do. I have appointments with clients, podcasts that are livestreams at set times & a bunch of random stuff. Missing my dentist appointment next week would cost me 75$.
The idea of wasted time is an attack on our recreational pursuits. Often from parents, who are jealous that at 36, I can write a blog because I don’t have little ones yelling at me to play. Even if I did have a kid, if I had to write this in the time I spent shitting, I would find a way to write my blog.
I also make music, you could argue the time and money I spent on that would be wasted. But some people play Warhammer. Turns out that Warhammer costs more than music. People pursue hobbies and passions. It’s part of what makes us human. You aren’t wasting time to go create something, you are using the time you have as you see fit.
Also, people should plan for recreation. There’s a gajillion articles online on the topic. I find writing a blog a relaxing and cathartic experience. It helps me take topics stuck in my mind and put them somewhere so I can move on. It has a big-time therapeutic value for me.
This blog may seem like a petty response to some Facebook comments. Because it is. But also, it took me 35 minutes to write (add 15 to edit and publish) and now I have another piece of content for my daily goal. It is a monetizeable skill to be able to produce a structured 1100 and change word piece on random topics in under an hour.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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